Year 3 -23 June 2026 -Route to South Africa
We continued to sail well and fast and John and I had the 8.00pm to 11.00pm slot. There was still quite a swell (3-4m) but it gradually began to lessen but only a little to start with. We were now clearly on a shipping route as we had a number of cargo ships and tankers come pass going Southwest and a number going the other way. They kept their distance and we could clearly see their lights as they silently moved passed us and disappeared quite spookily into the night.
Keith and Hisham took over from us and he who was feeling much better. During our watch we had a complete wind hole as the wind died from nowhere down to 6-8 kts and Keith and Hisham had the same for 20 minutes and so we took in the sails and motored (as due to the angle we could not motor with them) until the wind returned. There seemed to be no reason for it.
Peter was still feeling ill and was sleeping. I therefore had a few hours rest and then joined Jenny on her watch at 2.00am to cover for Peter. We continued to make good progress but the wind was becoming more Easterly and lessening. We therefore tried to sail on a broad reach which meant putting out the preventer and when the wind was light with the swell, the wind could get behind the sail and it flapped. We did our best (speed down to 5-6 kts) and John joined me at 5.00am for our 5-8.00am watch. We made 169nm from 6.00am when we left to 6.00am this morning in difficult conditions so that was good. The wind started to become fickle and we tried various options to prevent the flapping and then about 12.40pm we put the engine on. This meant we could motor back on course for the waypoint at the South of Madagascar. We did 166nm for the 12.00noon to 12.00noon run.
We had heard from Des who forecast today as ESE 16-22 kts swell SE 2.9m @ 9 seconds (gap between) and tomorrow E/NE 12-18kts swell S2.8m @ 12 seconds.
Well we certainly were not seeing that wind strength
and we motored for a few hours in 10-12 kt conditions.
We put the sails up again at about 3.30pm as the wind was increasing a little and the wind was 10-12 with the occasional 13, 14 and even 15 but due to our angle we could barely make 5.5-6 kts. As you can imagine I have been monitoring the weather in addition to Des and if we get into Durban or Richards Bay by midday on the 1st of July then we will be fine but not if later as there is a nasty southerly system coming up on the 2nd of July and it reaches as far as Richards Bay. It is therefore important we get to the waypoint in the South of Madagascar by the evening of the 25th of June to allow us 5-6 days to travel the 750-800nm required to get to RB or Durban. This is doable if we average 6.5kts -150 nm days provided we get the wind. We had about 311nm to the Madagascar waypoint and so we needed to make at least 6.3kts all the way to get there on time as the crow flies and if the wind went more East this would push us off course and make the distance longer. We were barley making 5-5.5kts.
I discussed with all the crew and we agreed to sail as best we can and if it does not pick up tomorrow we will motor.
John and I were on the 4-8.00pm watch and by 7.00pm I thought this is no good and decided to take down the sails and motor. This was the only way we were going to make the waypoint in time unless the wind strength increased. This proved to be a good decision as the wind did not increase further that day.
Keith reheated a chilli (which he had prepared in Reunion) he had made with rice and vegetable which was nice. Peter was feeling much better and did his first watch 12-4.00pm with Jenny and he even had some supper. We settled down to motor for the night and hoped the wind would strengthen. Although it means we are burning diesel, the rest of the passage after Madagascar looks as if there is good wind so we will not have to motor much. Therefore I decided motoring was worth doing and Stormbird has big tanks.
We hope the wind comes back but we are on schedule for now.
The picture of the day is the chart plotter last night showing the cargo ship traffic around us. Wr are in white in the middle.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
I am now in Mauritius and will be going to Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.
I have now found additional crew for Mauritius to Durban. There may be space from Durban to Cape Town from about the beginning of July and we should arrive in Cape Town on about 25-30 July 2026. If at all interested contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com